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A novel blood biomarker for plastic ingestion in fledgling procellariiform seabirds.
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Scientists developed a simple blood test that can detect plastic-related damage inside seabirds with 96% accuracy, by spotting patterns of cell damage and scarring linked to swallowing plastic. While this study focused on wild birds rather than people, it's an early step toward tools that could one day help researchers understand how plastic exposure harms living tissue over time — research that could eventually inform how we think about the health effects of microplastics in humans too.
Plastic ingestion is a well-established threat to wildlife, inducing a series of lethal and sublethal physiological consequences. Yet, in free-living populations, many of these health consequences remain effectively 'invisible' to conventional monitoring, making the development of a minimally invasive biomarker for plastic exposure a longstanding priority. To date, biomarker approaches have focused on detecting exposure (e.g., presence/absence of plastic additives/plasticisers) rather than identifying or classifying biological injury associated with plastic ingestion. Here, we evaluate whether the proteomic signatures previously identified in de Jersey et al. (2025) can be validated and extended across Procellariiform seabirds as a potential biomarker of plastic ingestion. We analysed blood plasma using data-independent mass spectrometry (DIA-MS) from four species during developmental stages including Sable Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes) fledglings, Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) fledglings, Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) fledglings and Providence Petrel (Pterodroma solandri) chicks with varying levels of plastic ingestion. Using a pathway-level approach that integrates functionally related proteins rather than relying on single-protein markers, we identified a consistent and conserved proteomic signature associated with plastic ingestion across species, achieving 96% classification accuracy. The proposed biomarker includes elevated evidence of cell lysis, compromised stomach permeability and fibrosis, and a decrease in secreted proteins. The detected physiological patterns are aligned with emerging models of plastic-induced pathology and diseases, such as plasticosis. However, as plasma proteomes shift substantially across life stages and retention time of plastic ingestion in adults is unknown, application of the biomarker to adults will require additional targeted validation to associate plastic ingestion to proteomic response. Our findings establish a foundation for a non-lethal, tool capable of diagnosing plastic exposure across seabird taxa, with potential applications in broader ecological monitoring and conservation programs.
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Researchers quantified micro- and nanoplastic burdens across six tissues in ten wild bird species and found that smaller-bodied birds carried higher plastic loads. Nanoplastics showed greater ability to move into internal organs than larger microplastics, and plastic particles were detected in the brain, blood, lungs, and muscle tissue. The study suggests that blood plastic levels could serve as a proxy for internal organ contamination and positions wild birds as potential bioindicators for plastic pollution.
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This study developed flow cytometry as a method to detect and quantify very small plastic particles (under 70 micrometers) in the feces of seabirds, addressing a major gap in detecting nano- and ultrafine plastics that standard techniques miss. Testing on two Australian shearwater species showed the method could detect particles far smaller than previously measurable, suggesting that seabirds ingest far more plastic by particle count than previously recognized.
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Researchers examined plastic ingestion records from over 93,000 seabirds across 240 species. Plastic was found in 76% of species, with pelicans most affected and penguins least affected. A bird's family group, rather than its diet, feeding method, or body size, best predicted whether plastic was found.
Can plastic related chemicals be indicators of plastic ingestion in an Arctic seabird?
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Researchers measured plastic-related chemicals in the blood and liver of Arctic seabirds known to ingest large amounts of plastic, finding that most chemical concentrations did not correlate with the amount of plastic ingested — suggesting seabirds are also exposed to these chemicals through their food, not just through eating plastic.
Early-life exposure to plastics is associated with health parameters and biomarkers in southern giant petrels
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Scientists found that seabird chicks who accidentally ate small bits of plastic showed measurable changes in their blood chemistry, nutrition levels, and immune function, even though the plastic made up less than 0.1% of their body weight. While this study was done in birds, not people, it's an important reminder that even tiny amounts of ingested plastic may cause subtle body-wide effects, especially during early development, something researchers are increasingly investigating in humans too, given how common microplastics have become in our food and water.
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